Scottish Development International (SDI) results show support it provided to companies across Scotland in the past financial year should result in £1.44bn of planned international sales over the next three years.
Scottish Enterprise’s international trade and investment arm supported Scottish firms to enter 208 new markets in 2021/22, with a focus on the United States, China, Germany, Spain and France.
As part of this, 176 new products and services left Scotland for these markets last year.
The results, which combine company projects supported by SDI, Scottish Enterprise and its sister agencies Highlands and Islands Enterprise and South of Scotland Enterprise, were announced by Minister for Business, Trade, Tourism and Enterprise, Ivan McKee.
“These latest results are extremely positive, and they highlight the demand for Scotland’s good and services across the globe,“ he commented.
“The resilience of Scottish businesses over the last few years is testament of the approach set out in our Export Growth Plan – A Trading Nation.
“Despite the complications of the pandemic and the consequences of Brexit, Scottish companies have been able to export their goods to international markets resulting in over £1.44bn of estimated sales within the next three years.”
In total, SDI provided more than 2,000 instances of trade assistance in the past financial year with the bulk of this support through its International Specialists both here in Scotland and overseas in more than 30 locations across the world.
These services ranged from tailored trade support for individual firms, to providing businesses with research about international markets and new opportunities, such as e-commerce and introductions to key overseas buyers.
SDI focused its trade activities on supporting companies within sectors where Scotland’s greatest export strengths currently lie: consumer industries, science and technology, energy and low carbon transition.
Examples of firms SDI assisted over the past year include:
- Intelligent Growth Solutions, the agritech business which designs, supplies and supports vertical farms.
- Verlume, a marine energy management and storage technology firm.
- Boe Gin, a Scottish distillery, which creates small batch gins and vodkas in the village of Throsk.
SDI also led delegations at some of the world’s biggest trade events in the past year, including Expo2020 in Dubai, the China International Import Expo, the Atlanta International Gift and Home Furnishings Market and the PGA Merchandise Show.
Adrian Gillespie, chief executive of Scottish Enterprise, said: “Supporting innovative Scottish companies scale up and grow through exports is a priority for us - not only is this a major contributor to Scotland’s economy, an international focus plays a vital role in encouraging the innovation and competitiveness that are essential to our future economy.
“With markets fully opening up and our exporters taking advantage of additional routes to overseas customers, we are positive about future trade opportunities for Scottish exporters.”
As part of its operating plan for 2022/23, SDI aims to deliver further international growth and maximise the impact of its international trade activities.
This includes strengthening its engagement with exporters that are best placed to make a significant contribution to Scotland’s economic recovery, tailoring support to suit the specific needs of companies.
Separately, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is opening the Scottish Government’s Nordic office in Copenhagen today.
The combined inward investment from Denmark, Norway, and Sweden puts the Nordic region in the top five of inward investment sources for Scotland, and three of the top 20 destinations for exports, with £2.6bn of goods and services exported to these countries by Scottish businesses in 2019.
The First Minister will undertake a range of trade, investment and policy engagements while in Copenhagen and discuss the countries’ shared ambitions and opportunities for closer collaboration.
This will include a roundtable with business and energy leaders at State of Green to discuss how Scotland and the Nordic regions can work together to accelerate decarbonisation and share expertise, and meeting with Foreign Minister of Denmark Jeppe Kofod.
Sturgeon said: “We have a centuries-long partnership with countries in the Nordic region and cultural, social and linguistic traces of our shared history and heritage can be found across Scotland.
“This office will support that ambition and build on the strong ties that already exist between us by promoting investment, trade and economic opportunities to benefit people and businesses across our countries.“
The Nordic office is co-located with SDI, within the British Embassy Copenhagen.
Work to attract investment by the Scottish Government offices both at home and overseas has helped increase foreign direct investment into Scotland by 14% in 2021, compared to 5.4% across Europe, and just 1.4% across the UK as a whole, according to EY’s 2022 Attractiveness Survey .
SDI statistics published in May also revealed more than 7,500 planned real living wage jobs had been generated by inward investment in 2021/22, with 113 investment projects in Scotland supported, 39 of which were investors locating in the country for the first time.
The establishment of the Nordic office means that Scotland is now served by a network of nine international offices, which have worked to promote Scottish interests and strengthen relationships with countries and continents around the world, since the 1992 establishment of Scotland Europa in Brussels.
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